For those interested in horticulture, the Garden State is, well, a good place to go. New Jersey gardens have long been admired for their beauty, design, and the tasty vegetables that they sometimes produce. If you visit the Bamboo Brook Gardens, also known as the Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center, an interaction with both natural and designed gardens is sure to take you by surprise. In order to fully appreciate Bamboo Brook Gardens, visitors should do some homework on the history of the very special woman who designed the landscapes of the Chester Township, NJ center.

Martha Brookes Hutcheson (1871-1959) was one of the first female landscape architects to become established in the field during the early twentieth century. Early in life, she saw public lands at hospitals and other areas being wasted, and longed to remedy the situation by using the beauty of plant life. She studied at MIT and left without a degree, though she became well known as a remarkable landscape architect. The Bamboo Brook Gardens that we can visit today was her personal home for the second half of her life, and many consider the space to be not only tops among New Jersey gardens, but her personal masterpiece as well. The way the natural beauty of trees and meadows are allowed to intermingle with formal gardens on the property is quite magnificent.

Today, the Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center makes up 100 acres of woods, fields, trails, water features, and well-maintained gardens. For people who enjoy the simple beauty of plant life, a trip to Bamboo Brook Gardens is a treat unlike many botanical gardens that tourists visit. It is a chance to learn from a master through the wordless beauty of a space she inspired, and this makes it one of the more unique things to do in the Garden State.

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Choose between guided nature hikes, or simply walking the trails of these New Jersey gardens in silence. In the winter, enjoy cross country skiing when the area is blanketed with fresh snow. Nature photography is one of the major attractions of the Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center, because this is a great place to learn how to capture the power of plant life with film. The mature Japanese Scholar trees silently leave an impact on those who choose to admire them at Bamboo Brook Gardens.

These New Jersey gardens are run by the Morris County Park Commission. For information about activities and events available at the Bamboo Brook Gardens, visit their website prior to your visit.

The Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education center could be an excellent aspect of a New Jersey spa getaway, or a bed and breakfast retreat in the area. If you really want to experience the outdoors you encounter at these New Jersey Gardens, consider making this visit a part of a New Jersey camping vacation. Mahlon Dickerson Reservation is a nearby spot where families are allowed to camp, but the Morris County Park Commission should be contacted in order to reserve space.